BOSNIAN HELSINKI COMMITTEE: BOSNIAN AUTHORITIES HAVE DONE NOTHING TO URGE UNITED STATES TO RELEASE SIX BOSNIAN CITIZENS FROM GUANTANAMO PRISON

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (January 20,2008) – The Bosnian Helsinki Committee for Human Rights urged, on the occasion of the 6th anniversary of the detention of six Bosnian citizens of Algerian origin (the Algerian group) by the US government,the Bosnian authorities to do everything in their power to protect human rights of six Bosnian citizens.

The Bosnian Helsinki Committee announced that the Bosnian authorities need to develop the citizenship revision mechanisms, which will be based on human rights.

The Bosnian Helsinki Committee reminded that numerous international instances, both governmental and nongovernmental, as well as the European Parliament and the Council of Europe, unanimously announced that the act of detention of the so-called Algerian group is a harsh breech of human rights and liberties.

”The most serious offences that were made on the occasion are illegal seizure of citizenship and extradition of persons to a country favouring death penalty and implementing torture methods and other inhumane and humiliating actions”, the Bosnian Helsinki Committee announced.

It has also been added that Bosnia has done nothing except for things that have been the state obligation to urge the Us government to free six detained Bosnian citizens.

The Committee expresses concerns over the fact that the process of seizure of citizenship is continued.

”We hereby condemn the extraditions announced that are not in accordance with the European Human Rights Convention and Convention on the Rights of children”, the Bosnian Helsinki Committee for Human Rights announced.

On January 17 2002, the Bosnian authorities extradited six Bosnian citizens of Algerian origin to the US authorities. They are all still imprisoned at the Gunatanamo prison.